Mom Reveals Truth About Being 'Unscathed' After Giving Birth With Side-by-Side Photos

Instagram and magazine covers are just a few of the places that constantly bombard women with expectations of being "perfect," or whatever that is. This holds even truer for new mothers, who are physically, mentally, and emotionally in a huge time of transition, and yet are still expected to have "perfect" and "flawless" bodies and smiles on their faces. But as mom-of-one Remi Peers (or @MamaClog on Instagram) proves in a recent post, not everything on your feed is truly as it seems.

On Instagram, Peers posted dramatic side-by-side photos of her postpartum stomach in side light and front-facing light to prove how easy it is to manipulate the way someone looks in photos.

Her body looked drastically different in the two photos, simply based on the lighting and angles. It reminds us that the way people are portrayed on Instagram posts and in the media is not always based in reality. In general, this takes its toll on women and their body image, but Peers wants to emphasize how especially dangerous it is for the postpartum community.

Being postpartum can make women "head [either] in the direction of self-acceptance and love, or of insecurity and resentment," she writes in the caption.

Advertisement

"And I say the word 'resentment' purposefully, because in a world of social media perfection, it can be hard not to be resentful," she continues.

After being constantly surrounded with images of scar-less and "flawlessly" recovered bodies, many women end up asking themselves things like, "How can it be fair that SHE came away unscathed?" or "Why does SHE have no loose skin or stretch marks?"

While every woman's postpartum body is different, we need to remember that social media rarely ever tells the whole story.

"It's social media," Peers continues. "It's people's escape, and in a lot of cases a place for people to put their best pictures first, to show the 'highlights' of their lives. We can't, and will never know, the whole story."

Maybe that woman truly didn't get stretch marks, or maybe she caught herself looking extra fierce in one photo and posting it is what makes her feel beautiful, or maybe there were 100 shots before that particular photo was even posted. Every woman's story -- and body -- is different, but all are worthy.

What's important is to remember to love our own beautiful bodies instead of comparing it to "a picture on a plastic screen."

Others who saw Peers's post cheered her on, saying that it inspired them to love their own bodies.